Graphic Details: Blog Design for Non-Designers

6th May 2013 | Posted by Eko S. | No Comments

You’re excited— you’ve just had a great idea for a new blog, and you can’t wait to get started. With all the specialized software, online tools, and design-based mobile apps available today, you’d think that pulling together a design project would be simple, right? Yet there is still a lot of dull, confusing, and just plain bad design out there, from restaurant menus and newspaper ads to blogs and websites.

One of the main reasons this happens is that it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that drag-and-drop equals great design. And that’s just not the case.

Template-based designs do have many advantages: they’re usually created by professional designers who have a deep understanding of the principles of page design (alignment, color, repetition, proximity), including the effective use of typography. And they’re undeniably easy to use. However, simply substituting your company name and other information for the generic template text does not constitute good design, nor will it make your blog or website stand out from anyone else who starts with the same template.

So what can you do to make your online presence stand out from the crowd?

Think about it this way: if you were opening, say, a physical retail clothing store, you wouldn’t let someone else decide for you what color to paint the walls, the style of furniture and lighting, or display fixtures, would you? Even if you were planning to hire an interior designer to handle these tasks, you’d still have to give that designer at least some idea of the general look and feel you were going for: modern, baroque, youthful, bohemian, fun, family-friendly, luxurious. The same should be true for any design project, whether you want to create an e-book cover, personalize a sign (or social-media profile picture or header), build a whole website, or start a new blog.

First, start by considering your content. Will your blog be about technology, fashion, music, politics, cooking, homeschooling, or travel? To narrow your design choices in a general way, take a minute to visualize what blogs on each of these topics might look like, then compare them: do you think a fashion blog should have a similar look and feel to a political one? Why or why not?

Next, get more specific, by considering how you will impose your own taste and style on your blog’s design. Are you conservative, witty, stylish, eccentric, or serious? If you can come up with one word (okay, maybe two or three words) that captures your personality, that can be the springboard to a unique design point of view. And from here, you can think about type styles and color palettes that will reflect that point of view.

Finally, look around for templates that could fit into the look and feel of both your blog topic and your personality (note how this is not the same as making your content fit a template you happen to like). Dynamic WordPress is a great place to get started, with many free customizable WordPress templates, along with helpful advice and tutorials that will help you create an outstanding blog design.

From a sketch on a napkin to launching your masterpiece into the blogosphere, your blog is ultimately a reflection of you. Design accordingly.